High school basketball: Former assistant takes over at helm for Chapin

Toraino Johnson has had plenty of experiences during his career in basketball.

He believes those experiences will help him in his new role as the head coach of the Chapin High School boys basketball program.

Johnson replaces Tom Shukitt, who resigned after the 2012-13 season, who is now on head coach Tony Harper's staff at Cathedral.

"I'm really looking forward to next year; we have some good young players in the program," said Johnson, who has been an assistant at Chapin the past two years. "I feel we have a bright future and we're going to work hard every day to get better."

Johnson, who is a 1998 graduate of Andress, played collegiately at Garden City Junior College in Kansas for two years, followed by two seasons at Utah State.

He also played professionally in the USBL and different international leagues, including a stint in Mexico.

"I've played for a lot of coaches and learned from a lot of different coaches," Johnson said. "As a coach, I try and learn from different people and use my experiences to my benefit. I'm not going to stop learning and I'm not going to stop teaching the kids what I know. It's a process for me and I'm going to try and be the best coach I can."

Johnson also spent some time as a volunteer assistant coach at Andress prior to his job as a Chapin assistant.

"I love coaching and I'm really excited about teaching the youth," Johnson said. "To have a chance to coach in El Paso means a great deal. I know the area and I know the kids."

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Chapin, which failed to make the playoffs this past season, competes in District 1-4A.

"It's a tough district we compete in," Johnson said. "But, we're going to compete and we're going to play to our strengths."

Johnson beat out 20 other candidates for the job, according to Chapin principal Carla Gonzales. She said that Johnson's rapport with the players on the team was a key factor in his hiring.

"We had an amazing pool of candidates," Gonzales said. "Coach Johnson gets a great response from the kids and they respect him. He is a role model for the kids here at Chapin. He has been a part of the program for the past couple of years and the way he approaches the game and the way he teaches the game is impressive."

Felix Chávez may be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6167. Follow him on Twitter @fchavezeptimes